Fr Louis has announced the church’s shared reading book for Advent this year: ‘Do Not Be Afraid: The Joy of Waiting in a Time of Fear’ by Rachel Mann, priest, poet and feminist theologian, and since 2023, Archdeacon of Bolton and of Salford in the UK’s Diocese of Manchester.
Advent is a time of preparation and a time of waiting. But do we know how to wait? Well, we do it all the time. But we are not good at it….and we usually do whatever we can to avoid it! Yet “waiting can be beautiful and, at least sometimes, it takes us to the heart of the Holy”, writes Rachel Mann.
The book contains 4 weeks of meditations, each ending with a prayer and questions for reflection. The meditations tell stories of God waiting with us when we’re in fear or distress; of coming – bidden or unbidden – to relieve our loneliness; of disconcerting us, desiring us and surprising us with joy. Most of all they remind us that Jesus Christ comes into the world as one long waited for: the servant who waits on others, and as the one on whom we are, adoringly, called to wait.
Advent is about making a virtue of the waiting, it is about really really doing it well.
Rachel Mann has written over a dozen books, including the Michael Ramsey Prize shortlisted Fierce Imaginings and A Kingdom of Love, which was highly commended in the Forward Poetry Prizes. She regularly contributes to programmes on Radio 4, including ‘Thought For the Day’ on the Today Programme, as well as ‘Pause For Thought’ on Radio 2.
Fr Philip, who knows Rachel Mann personally, writes: “A good choice… She is an excellent theologian and writer. This book is what I have chosen for my own Advent reading.”
The book can be bought from Amazon here in Spain for €13.75. Click here. It’s also available in digital form.
There will be the chance to join an online discussion to explore the themes of the book. Tuesday 17th December at 7.00pm. Zoom link here. Meeting ID: 847 6300 1381. Passcode: 879382.